For those plugged into the viral epidemic, one of the best forms of entertainment is people accidentally throwing their remotes into television screens, yanking gaming systems from their shelves and breaking mouse after mouse in gaming-induced frenzies. Sadly, this lowbrow humor may be ushered into extinction by the comet of Kinect.

This motion-capture gaming technology dominated the world stage at the end of last year when Microsoft introduced Kinect, an external add-on for its Xbox 360 gaming console. This peripheral employs the multifaceted attributes of depth censors, voice-recognition technology and a seemingly flawless ability to extinguish the need for a remote control in the Xbox gaming environment.

‘Well,’ you may say, ‘I’ll always be able to watch Wii users throw their remotes through multiple household breakables.’ For now, yes, but the future of this technology could imply the abolishment of all ball-and-chain or cord-and-controller gaming. Xbox could be nothing more than a steppingstone on the way to gaming domination.

As early as the beginning of this year, reports were made worldwide that PrimeSense, the creators of the chip that enabled the birth of Kinect, would release development versions of the code in an open-source format.

For the non-tech-savvy, that basically means developers worldwide will be able to mold this technology as they see fit and release it to the public to be used in a variety of manners. 

For the very non-tech-savvy, think of it in terms of a puzzle. At first you could only see the finished product of the pieces assembled, but with open-source policies, you are provided with all the pieces and can find your own ways of putting them together. This gives you the possibility of making a better picture than the one you were first shown or tailoring the picture to your own likes or needs.

With the pieces of the motion-capture puzzle in the hands of developers worldwide, adaptations may be made for usage on PCs, the Wii, smart phones and every other form of interactive technology you could dream of. Technology in the hands of the public has limitless potential.

Second Life users could manipulate their avatars sans remote. Sims lovers could run to catch their carpool to work by actually running. Roller Coaster tycoons could use their hands to manipulate their creations.

The development version of Kinect that PrimeSense is selling to developers has been dubbed ‘PrimeSensor’ and shares the same foundation as Microsoft’s version. Complete with the same camera technology needed to capture general movements and small gestures alike, the company’s intent is for developers worldwide to tinker with this technology and bring it to a host of different technological mediums.

And the best part is this technology will by no means be limited to gaming purposes. With the mass popularization and development of motion-capture technology, this could benefit simulation environments and virtual training in every industry, ranging from the military to the medical field.

With 8 million Kinect devices sold as of the close of 2010, according to Xbox’s website, it seems this technology will have no problems finding an accepting market.

For those of you who embrace the comical clumsy catastrophes resulting from tangible gaming remotes, fear not. I’m sure the mishaps caused by an unbalanced human body will usurp the humor of a free-flying Wii remote.

Jessica Smith is an information management and technology and television, radio and film dual major. Her column appears every Tuesday, and she can be reached atjlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on February 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm